The Mark of a Pioneer: Forsaking the known for the unknown
The pioneer is willing to leave behind all known quantities of his present reality because he
From Woodstock To Eternity
sees them as limitations. And, those limitations are like chains to him. He might as well be in leg irons in a dungeon with one little window where he can watch the world outside change and grow while he is forced to tolerate an eternal hell of sameness.
From Woodstock to Eternity excerpt from the chapter “How the West Was Won”
The mark of a Pioneer is what separates successful people from unsuccessful people. Many work in mundane situations their whole life and never attempt to change it. Like factory workers who get so used to their job that they can’t imagine doing anything else. A Pioneer would feel bound and limited in an environment like this, and would make every attempt to escape.
Bakery Plant Line Workers
Sometimes, we are forced by circumstances to leave our present reality. Recently, a major plant in our town closed, and many of the workers took the opportunity to go back to Junior College to learn a skill. They were forced to leave their “known reality” of the guaranteed work and go in a direction they had never dreamed of. After they became nurses and technicians, they looked back on their time in the plant as a distant memory of a routine existence. They had changed their lives.
Many get caught up in this mentality, and don’t have the foresight or the courage to step out “into the unknown”, but a Pioneer will take the challenge with glee. My son worked
Welding Shop
odd jobs in high school and got a welding certificate at the local college. For him, that was all he could see, and thought the best he could do was open a welding shop. A friend of the family convinced him that the only way to get ahead in the world was to get a Bachelor’s Degree.
He was hesitant at first, because his known reality was only welding. It was a limitation to him, but he took the challenge and left it behind. He launched into a Construction Engineering program. Now, doors are opening up to him everywhere, and he will enter a life far beyond a sheet metal welding shop.
Treasure in Heaven
The same is true of a journey into Eternity. When we are confronted with the Gospel message and the Christian Life, it requires a turning from our know existence. Just like Jesus said, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:22
Following Christ is a leap into the unknown, a departure from the way we have been living in the past to a new life according to heavenly ways. We are supposed to become a “new creation in Christ” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Many are eager to do this, and some are not so sure.
For those who make the transition from the old life to the new life – who make it “to the other side”, I have a title
ETERNAL PIONEERS